Thank you — everyone — for the birthday cake and all the birthday cards last night. Special thanks go to Rachel and Claudia for organizing and executing the surprise. I opened all the cards before I went to bed, and they were all wonderful.

I’m going to write later with rehearsal notes and the decision about whether we will rehearse tonight or postpone until tomorrow. With all the snow, cancellations, and postponements, I thought I’d brighten your day with the winning Top Ten birthday cards!

#10
From: Marc Perler
Why chosen: Creative promotion of the horn section

#9
From: The Sax Section
Why chosen: Creative use of alcohol in a birthday greeting (are you surprised?)

#8
From: Dan Salvi
Why chosen: Creative use of combining cats and the expression on my face when I dropped the “Nimrod bomb”

#7 (Outside)
From: The Trumpet Section
Why chosen: Creative application of Mexican theme on the Arutiunian Concerto

#7 (inside)
Mariachi meets Arutiunian!
Click here for the “Mexican Arutiunian” which plays when you open the card!

#6 (outside)
From: Gerould McCoy
Why chosen: Outstanding combination of a pun and a temporary tattoo

#6 (inside)
“Mantique” — get it?
If you play real, real good, I’ll wear the tattoo for the concert.

#5 (outside)
From: Mark Dodge and Nathan Brewster
Why chosen: Entertainment value (it’s worthy of a TED video, seriously)

#5 (inside)
Note that you can play the cow bells and play the indicated melodies. Insightful, creative, and educational. It’s kept me “a-moooooo-sed” for hours.
.

#4 (outside)
From: Tim Allport
Why chosen: Seriously, you have to ask?!?! Spectacular coordination of dance, music, 3-D effects, and more cows!

#4 (inside)
Click here to hear the dynamic music heard when you open the card!

#3
From: Allyson Bellink
Why chosen: Creative use of . . . . well, you know.

#2
From: Claudia Mickelson
Why chosen: Perfect combination of roller coasters (my favorite hobby) and Star Wars (my phone plays R2D2 when I get a text message)

And the #1 Birthday Card (drum roll, please)
From: Jim Savage
Why chosen: No explanation required

Thanks, everyone, for helping to make last evening so special. You are an incredible group of kind and creative people.

Watch your email later this afternoon for our final announcement regarding tonight’s dress rehearsal.

Jim plowed Main Street. Matt did the side streets. Marge cleared the bank lot. Rachel spread salt on all the streets of Tarrytown. And Eric supervised. (He has a PhD!)

Thanks to everyone for your understanding for the cancellation last night. We understand we’ll have a few absences tonight, but we will muddle forth. The hall will open at 6:45 pm to set up, downbeat is 7:30 pm. More announcements tonight.

Upon consultation with many of you, we’ve decided to err on the side of safety and cancel rehearsal tonight. We will accept the Music Hall’s offer to come in tomorrow evening, Tuesday, at our regular time, 7:30-9:45 pm. Send Claudia a short email (use the subject line) if you have a non-negotiable conflict and cannot attend.

Keep the overall contingency plan in mind for the week. Continue to watch your email tomorrow for further updates. Thank you.

There are 3 storms on deck this week. I’ve been in communication with the Board and the Music Hall administration. Please take a look at the contingency plan I’ve outlined below. We will be sure to send a confirmation/cancellation notice on each day by 3:00 pm. We are looking at alternate rehearsal possibilities on Tuesday and Thursday, as needed, and an earlier call time on Sunday (with a longer lunch/pre-concert break). We know some of you will have conflicts, no matter what we do. I ask that you please consider our contingency proposal, make alternate plans as you are able, and email Claudia as necessary. Important: When you email Claudia, please consider putting the point of your email in the subject line; it will help her scan/organize messages much easier.

If we all pull together, we can do this. We worked around snow in October 2011, Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Nothing is impossible if you frame your perspective positively.

Oh yeah — You’re going to get a lot of emails this week. Buck up.

Monday/regular rehearsal 7:30-9:45 pm – Unless you live under a rock, you know it’s snowing a good deal. We’ll make a decision about tonight’s rehearsal at or before 3:00 pm. If we cancel tonight, we will rehearse Tuesday evening.

Tuesday/contingency rehearsal, 7:30-9:45 pm – The next storm (#2) is due Tuesday into Wednesday. If we activate rehearsal Tuesday, we’ll confirm/cancel by 3:00 pm.

Wednesday/dress rehearsal, 7:30-10:00 pm – We will confirm/cancel by 3:00 pm. If we cancel Wednesday, we will dress rehearse Thursday evening.

Thursday/contingency dress rehearsal, 7:30-10:00 pm – If we need to activate Thursday, we’ll confirm/cancel by 3:00 pm.

Friday & Saturday – No contingencies scheduled. Bake a pie, or better yet, practice some more. And don’t let the squirrel in.

Sunday/Concert – Currently the sound check is scheduled, as usual, at 1:00 pm. If the House of Cards completely implodes this week, we will set up at 11:00 am, rehearse 11:30 am – 1:00 pm, bring in pizzas and take a lunch break to eat and rest 1:00-2:50 pm, take the stage at 2:50 pm, and perform at 3:00 pm. And I’ll warn Santa Fe to order back up tequila for afterwards.

My close personal friend, Al Roker, is also forecasting the “next big storm”(#3) for Sunday into Monday. Sigh. I am hoping against hope that the storm is delayed (as it often does), but I have already asked Karina for contingency concert dates. The Board will discuss these before we put these out to you.

We will get through this. Please remember: no matter what happens, there is bound to be something funny in all this. Keep yourself open to that, and enjoy it when it happens.

Stay safe today!